Re: Poll - Multiple answers can be made in the poll - select all that apply.
I have heard people say it's better to stretch before workout and others say it is better to stretch during/after workouts.
I have also heard people say stretching before is a good way to hurt yourself.
I have always believed stretching before workout is better and have swum better.
I wanted to get your feedback and links if any supporting your views.
Thanks
@ Orca1946 Thanks- I will mention Multiple answers can be made in the poll - select all that apply. I wasn't clear on that originallyand will add verbiage.
@Philoswimmer Great point, my greyhounds stretch each time they get off the coach before we let them run outside, and they are quick.
I have found my stroke is choppy and turns are in bad form if I don't stretch before swimming. I will still do a warm-up in the pool.
( Best analogy I can think of is I feel like Frankenstein fighting through the water without stretching)
I will do a slow stretch with continuous pressure for at least 30 seconds.
I usually will try to hit the calf, thigh, forearm, lats, stomach and back.
@Philoswimmer Great point, my greyhounds stretch each time they get off the coach before we let them run outside, and they are quick.
My greyhound stretches a lot also but there's a reason he is laying around on my couch instead of racing at a track.
As for stretching... I don't do any and neither does anyone on my team. I'll stretch my arms between sets if they feel a little tight. I'm definitely not qualified to call it a "good" or "bad" practice though.
since "Stretching, what's that?" was not an option I went with stretching during.
I've done the stretching before, but get tight as soon as I jump in, and then have to stretch out throughout the warm up and after every series.
ryan
Is there really any evidence that stretching of an kind is really beneficial? It seems like everything I read says it's worthless. So my vote is for no stretching unless someone can convince me otherwise. Even then I probably won't stretch. :cane:
Jim Thornton and I recently had this conversation, with him opining that stretching is useless.
Here's what the Mayo Clinic says: www.mayoclinic.com/.../HQ01447
And yoga, which includes stretching, is likewise beneficial: www.livestrong.com/.../
It's hard for me to see how having tight muscles is a good situation. A lot of people with lower back pain often just have tight muscles. Swimming is a sport where flexibility is paramount. Try doing SDKs with a tight back and hips ... Try doing fly or rotating properly on backstroke with a tight back, hips, and core ... Try kicking fast without flexible ankles ... (As for shoulders, I do admit that I rarely stretch them except for whatever residual stretching is in a yoga pose, because of my concern about further stretching the tendons.)
FWIW, my own stretching routine consists of brikram yoga (because of its focus on spinal strengthening, spinal-back-leg flexibility and balance) and these stretches: forums.usms.org/blog.php
Static stretching impairs strength and power. See this and about a billion other related studies: cat.inist.fr/
I've read that as well. But isn't that effect limited to 60 minutes or so after doing it? So, for example, you shouldn't do it prior to drylands or a swim race?
I have yet to see any proof that stretching is of any value whatsoever. People who tell me I need to stretch tell me this because they passed a one hour personal trainer test. When I press them they say, "because you have to stretch."
I do exclude yoga from my belief as yoga, to me, is a sport unto itself with goals and advancement so obviously being flexible assists you as you progress. I also think yoga is a cult, perpetuated by flaxative eating sweaty crystal deodorant wearing hippies in hemp costumes, but that's a side point.
I think until there is definitive proof on stretching I plan to remain as inflexible as humanly possible.
Maybe something like yoga or pilates where the stretching is the exercise is a different scenario. It seems to me that you are stretching while you swim and as long as you don't just dive in and start swimming all out you'll be fine. After reading Geek's post above I'm inclined to agree: most people stretch because they think they are supposed to stretch.
Then again my flexibility is terrible and maybe never stretching has something to do with it.
I have yet to see any proof that stretching is of any value whatsoever. People who tell me I need to stretch tell me this because they passed a one hour personal trainer test. When I press them they say, "because you have to stretch."
My reasons for stretching are similar to A.K.'s: I "feel like Frankenstein fighting through the water without stretching." My muscles are tight when I start out and swimming alone isn't enough to loosen them. I feel better when I stretch. Maybe once you start stretching, you become addicted to it? Maybe some physiologies require stretching and others don't? I don't know. I am always baffled by those who don't feel the need to stretch; I feel like I *have* to stretch.
Maybe some physiologies require stretching and others don't? I don't know. I am always baffled by those who don't feel the need to stretch; I feel like I *have* to stretch.
I have wondered about this as well. I have never ever been flexible and therefore have adapted my sports to this. It is probably just what a person gets accustomed to and either way is fine.
